Experience with FCP Euro "Lifetime Warranty?

[DrCharles]

I've spent more than I care to think about at FCP Euro over the last few years on my E34, E38 and E39. Have only had a few part failures but they either exchanged or refunded promptly, with no problem. For a small part (like the coolant level switch) they didn't even make me return the old one. A+

[FCPEuro]

Gareth, thanks for replying to my post and explanation. I recall a time when FCP would sell Karlyn suspension parts and after 1 yr would fail and people would complain on the forums.

While the parts were cheap, the cost of time/labor to remove and install these cheap parts often exceeded the part costs. Not sure if you still sell those brands. That's what prompted the question and wondered how often someone would replace those under warranty. I can understand that with OEM brands like Lemforder lasting 70k miles, most people would need to keep their car for 5+ years to get any sort of warranty replacement and most people get rid of their car by then and non-transferable, it didn't make a difference.

In any case, sounds like a great deal for DIYers who keep their car for years. Can you clarify on shipping charges for warranty purposes? I guess we are only responsible for shipping charges on returning the part and all other shipping charges (on 1st purchase and replacement) are covered by FCP?

Those days were before I came on board. We still sell some Karlyn parts depending on the chassis. But we monitor this closely to see how they perform. If there is a low warranty rate or it's in line with the other better known products that we sell we keep it active. If there is a quality issue we stop selling the product altogether or don't sell it from the beginning.

In regards to warranty, the customer is responsible for covering the return shipping. However, exceptions have been made by our customer service department when the circumstance calls for it. When the part comes back we either issue you a refund or a credit (depends on the time frame since the initial purchase). You can either choose a different brand or go with the same brand but the guarantee still follows the original purchase.

actually hapollo, i wonder if you just ousted FCP's endgame.
with their warranty system being so well known, buyers probably have a really high rate of returning defective parts instead of grumbling and just putting up with it.
this could in turn give fcp a really robust "parts quality" metric. if some part is being returned a lot really quickly, they have definitive proof it's a bad part and can pull it from the store. pretty clever

I wouldn't call it our "end game" per se. I will say that we look at returns and reviews to make decisions on the products we sell. The warranty and our product offering are a reflection of one another. We can offer the warranty because we are confident that what we are selling is of good quality. Our offering has been molded by our experience with products we have sold. It doesn't matter who the manufacturer of the part is or not, a poor part is a poor part regardless of what box it comes out of.

An example of this is something I dealt with personally as of late. We were selling an aftermarket blower motor from Behr which was getting terrible reviews. The price point was very attractive for many customers but many complained about early failures and the blower motor being abnormally loud. At that time we were only selling a Genuine BMW replacement along with the Behr. The Valeo OE version was available at a slightly higher cost to us but we were able to keep the end cost to customers very close to where the aftermarket Behr had been listed at. In this situation we removed a dud and replace it with something that is of significantly higher quality and ultimately offers a much better value for our customers.

But you did hit on a good point and I'm glad that you see what we're striving towards. The good news is the more high quality stuff we sell the better we can source it and the better pricing we can pass onto our customers. It's basically a win win for everyone.

I bought a pair of E39 hood struts from FCPEuro back in June. They didn't fit (the knob on the end was too big - avoid the "Meistersatz" brand), but I didn't figure that out until I had scratched up one of them pretty good trying to get it installed. I sent both back and FCPEuro refunded the cost without hesitation.

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LEMFÖRDER has an extensive description of their products and their efforts at quality control. They also have an online tech support. I'll bet if you tell them your story, you'll get some positive response.

-stephen

I have had to deal with a few issues pertaining to Meistersatz gas support springs. I haven't made a decision on how to deal with it as a whole yet. Some of these have been perfectly fine while others have been problematic. Regardless, we are looking into it to find a better solution.

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Gareth, thanks for replying to my post and explanation. I recall a time when FCP would sell Karlyn suspension parts and after 1 yr would fail and people would complain on the forums.

While the parts were cheap, the cost of time/labor to remove and install these cheap parts often exceeded the part costs. Not sure if you still sell those brands. That's what prompted the question and wondered how often someone would replace those under warranty. I can understand that with OEM brands like Lemforder lasting 70k miles, most people would need to keep their car for 5+ years to get any sort of warranty replacement and most people get rid of their car by then and non-transferable, it didn't make a difference.

In any case, sounds like a great deal for DIYers who keep their car for years. Can you clarify on shipping charges for warranty purposes? I guess we are only responsible for shipping charges on returning the part and all other shipping charges (on 1st purchase and replacement) are covered by FCP?

actually hapollo, i wonder if you just ousted FCP's endgame.
with their warranty system being so well known, buyers probably have a really high rate of returning defective parts instead of grumbling and just putting up with it.
this could in turn give fcp a really robust "parts quality" metric. if some part is being returned a lot really quickly, they have definitive proof it's a bad part and can pull it from the store. pretty clever

I bought a pair of E39 hood struts from FCPEuro back in June. They didn't fit (the knob on the end was too big - avoid the "Meistersatz" brand), but I didn't figure that out until I had scratched up one of them pretty good trying to get it installed. I sent both back and FCPEuro refunded the cost without hesitation.

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LEMFÖRDER has an extensive description of their products and their efforts at quality control. They also have an online tech support. I'll bet if you tell them your story, you'll get some positive response.

-stephen

I've spent more than I care to think about at FCP Euro over the last few years on my E34, E38 and E39. Have only had a few part failures but they either exchanged or refunded promptly, with no problem. For a small part (like the coolant level switch) they didn't even make me return the old one. A+

Glad to hear you have been having a good experience and haven't had to return much. We prefer to see parts leave here and not come back because that usually means we have a customer in some sort of bind. However, when items do come back we like to make sure we are as efficient at getting returns processed as we are at getting orders shipped.

[Trasportador]

I have 4 BMW's currently, and at least 4 others before this set. I can buy parts in town for about 20% more than FCP charges. If I must get in-town parts, I get them as as last resort. I've been shopping FCP for about 8 years now. I've hand an incorrect part shipped once, and they refunded me the money. Had to warranty (2) E34 thrust arms, no worry. They do what I'd expect any reputable business to do, and they do it with consistency.

I've read threads where other users have had issues, but I believe those issues were bourne of incorrect expectations. If I send an email to them, I get a response within the day(this matters alot to me).

That said, until I see a major issue, they're good with me. Just ordered some Audi parts today for my buddy's hunk-a-junk.

[gmak]

Dear FCP:

Although it is labour intensive, I really wish that you would update your parts database to list all the little bits (nuts bolts washers etc) that come with a part so that noobs like me don't order them and wind up paying through the nose for something that is never used, and would probably cost just as much to send back. Or, if we assume that the little bits do come with the product, and then they aren't here, we're left hanging if something shears or strips, or gets rounded or is already very rusted / damaged in any way.

A case in point are various smaller suspension items, such as TRW stabilizer (sway bar) end links. They come with the nuts needed whereas other makes may not. If the listing doesn't state that they are there - I usually buy them to replace the old ones, for peace of mind etc. Now I'm winding up with a growing inventory of 'stuff I may never use' collecting dust.

Thanks.

[Redshift]

Dear FCP:

Although it is labour intensive, I really wish that you would update your parts database to list all the little bits (nuts bolts washers etc) that come with a part so that noobs like me don't order them and wind up paying through the nose for something that is never used, and would probably cost just as much to send back. Or, if we assume that the little bits do come with the product, and then they aren't here, we're left hanging if something shears or strips, or gets rounded or is already very rusted / damaged in any way.

A case in point are various smaller suspension items, such as TRW stabilizer (sway bar) end links. They come with the nuts needed whereas other makes may not. If the listing doesn't state that they are there - I usually buy them to replace the old ones, for peace of mind etc. Now I'm winding up with a growing inventory of 'stuff I may never use' collecting dust.

Thanks.

This happens to me all the time, gmak. I have a ton of leftover hardware I paid for that turned out to be unnecessary.

[FCPEuro]

Dear FCP:

Although it is labour intensive, I really wish that you would update your parts database to list all the little bits (nuts bolts washers etc) that come with a part so that noobs like me don't order them and wind up paying through the nose for something that is never used, and would probably cost just as much to send back. Or, if we assume that the little bits do come with the product, and then they aren't here, we're left hanging if something shears or strips, or gets rounded or is already very rusted / damaged in any way.

A case in point are various smaller suspension items, such as TRW stabilizer (sway bar) end links. They come with the nuts needed whereas other makes may not. If the listing doesn't state that they are there - I usually buy them to replace the old ones, for peace of mind etc. Now I'm winding up with a growing inventory of 'stuff I may never use' collecting dust.

Thanks.

This is a good suggestion and I agree with you that it is important. For example, many Genuine BMW control arms and suspension parts do not come with hardware while the OEM and aftermarket versions include hardware. It is labor intensive but it is also 100% doable. I am also toying with the idea of including torque specs on common fasteners and in many of the kits as well.

This happens to me all the time, gmak. I have a ton of leftover hardware I paid for that turned out to be unnecessary.

It happens to me too, and I do this for a living. I have a 12x12 box full of brand new BMW fasteners that I have accrued over the years. But going along with gmak's suggestion I would like to eventually include information about hardware that comes with the products we sell.

[gmak]

You know, if we pooled all our resources from purchasing parts over the years we could probably put a number of chinese factories out of business. But they're probably going to do that to themselves in the upcoming global recession.

[RauchenReifen]

You know, if we pooled all our resources from purchasing parts over the years we could probably put a number of chinese factories out of business. But they're probably going to do that to themselves in the upcoming global recession.

Actually the low-end factories will do better, economics 101 says people look for cheaper alternatives when times are tough. It's the high-quality, expensive brands that suffer. More 7-11 coffee, less Starbucks.

[gmak]

You're assuming low-end = low cost. Poor quality raises costs and hurts sales, no? Also, never underestimate the ability of capital investment to reduce those costs and improve quality at the same time.

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You're assuming low-end = low cost. Poor quality raises costs and hurts sales, no? Also, never underestimate the ability of capital investment to reduce those costs and improve quality at the same time.

Also, some segments are not price sensitive (BMW owners). I'l say that they will not desert Lemfoerder and rush out to embrace the low-price alternative due jour.

[jfmjr442]

Have used FCP for 10 years plus for E39, E 36 and E90 and they have warranted anything i have asked about - no matter what - shipping is fast, customer service response is fast, refunds or replacements are fast and accurate. plus 110% for FCP

John

[BMWBradley]

I believe towards the beginning at the Q & A examples it stated that you must buy new part - ship back old part and AFTER 90 DAYS they will refund your money. How is that without hesitation. I mean is this a thread or an advertisement. I just purchased some A arm bushings front them less than 6 months ago and they are already broken - both of them. Why would I want to purchase more? Having to replace my A-arm bushings every 6 months is not acceptable even if I did keep getting them warrantied (after 90 days just long enough to forget). I want my money back and they can keep their crappy bushings. Oh yeah and I bought 2 sets of these. One set for my 325i and one set for my 330i. The bushings are already falling apart on my 330i and I am certain they will break soon. Not happy at all.

[QUiKSR20]

I believe towards the beginning at the Q & A examples it stated that you must buy new part - ship back old part and AFTER 90 DAYS they will refund your money. How is that without hesitation. I mean is this a thread or an advertisement. I just purchased some A arm bushings front them less than 6 months ago and they are already broken - both of them. Why would I want to purchase more? Having to replace my A-arm bushings every 6 months is not acceptable even if I did keep getting them warrantied (after 90 days just long enough to forget). I want my money back and they can keep their crappy bushings. Oh yeah and I bought 2 sets of these. One set for my 325i and one set for my 330i. The bushings are already falling apart on my 330i and I am certain they will break soon. Not happy at all.

FCP's warranty is "lifetime" not 90 days, They shouldnt wear in 90 days... Were they OEM Bushings?

[jmc1590]

I believe towards the beginning at the Q & A examples it stated that you must buy new part - ship back old part and AFTER 90 DAYS they will refund your money. How is that without hesitation. I mean is this a thread or an advertisement. I just purchased some A arm bushings front them less than 6 months ago and they are already broken - both of them. Why would I want to purchase more? Having to replace my A-arm bushings every 6 months is not acceptable even if I did keep getting them warrantied (after 90 days just long enough to forget). I want my money back and they can keep their crappy bushings. Oh yeah and I bought 2 sets of these. One set for my 325i and one set for my 330i. The bushings are already falling apart on my 330i and I am certain they will break soon. Not happy at all.

I've used FCP for years without problem. And I've returned used parts that failed under warranty. (And for road hazard as well!) They did require the purchase of a new part, and provided credit for said purchase after receiving the defective item. (This was approximately 16 months after the purchase.) The entire credit issuing part took about 10 days from shipping the part back.

As far as the bushings go, what brand of bushings did you purchase? Some have extremely good lifespans (Lemforder, Meyle), some not so good.

As far as returns go, they will honor the warranty. Will they refund the purchase, doubtful. Will they allow you to apply warranty credit towards the purchase of a better bushing, I believe so.

[BimmerBreaker]

I believe towards the beginning at the Q & A examples it stated that you must buy new part - ship back old part and AFTER 90 DAYS they will refund your money. How is that without hesitation. I mean is this a thread or an advertisement. I just purchased some A arm bushings front them less than 6 months ago and they are already broken - both of them. Why would I want to purchase more? Having to replace my A-arm bushings every 6 months is not acceptable even if I did keep getting them warrantied (after 90 days just long enough to forget). I want my money back and they can keep their crappy bushings. Oh yeah and I bought 2 sets of these. One set for my 325i and one set for my 330i. The bushings are already falling apart on my 330i and I am certain they will break soon. Not happy at all.

It doesnt say that anywhere, what are you reading??
https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/lifetime-guarantee

[FCPEuro]

I believe towards the beginning at the Q & A examples it stated that you must buy new part - ship back old part and AFTER 90 DAYS they will refund your money.

That is not how the lifetime warranty works at all. This is directly from the Lifetime Gaurantee information page as to how the process works:

1) You must have a valid purchase through FCP Euro to participate
Under no circumstance will we take back parts that are not ours. We inspect all parts upon arrival. If we receive a part that is not ours, we will charge you to ship it back or discard it.

2) When you need a replacement, you must purchase the new replacement part first
This is a lifetime replacement program and we will not issue refund against your original order.

3) Once you receive your replacement part, you can send the initial item you purchased from FCP Euro back
Absolutely no return will be accepted without our fully completed returns form.

4) Upon receipt of part, we will issue you the refund against your replacement order
We do not cover the cost of brand upgrades

https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/lifetime-guarantee

The only time you will not get a refund to the original form of payment in the scenario outlined above is if you wait more than 90 days to ship back the damaged parts from the day you placed your replacement/warranty order. I can't say that is something that frequently happens. Generally speaking, we get parts back almost immediately after a replacement order has been shipped.

How is that without hesitation. I mean is this a thread or an advertisement. I just purchased some A arm bushings front them less than 6 months ago and they are already broken - both of them. Why would I want to purchase more? Having to replace my A-arm bushings every 6 months is not acceptable even if I did keep getting them warrantied (after 90 days just long enough to forget). I want my money back and they can keep their crappy bushings.

It's not possible for us to issue a refund to the original form of payment after 90 days. This isn't because we don't want to but rather the payment portal in which the original transaction was made is closed after 90 days for your security. Online payments are made via "a pathway" via through a processing company. For security, this pathway in which the original payment information is submitted is closed after that 90 day period. Because of this, there is no way for us to physically refund the payment to the original form of payment. In this scenario all we can do is issue you a customer credit. If this was a transaction done in person for example via a machine the situation works completely different. Unfortunately, online payments don't work like this.

Oh yeah and I bought 2 sets of these. One set for my 325i and one set for my 330i. The bushings are already falling apart on my 330i and I am certain they will break soon. Not happy at all.

I can tell you're not happy. Which brand of bushings did you buy? You mentioned for the A-arm so I assume you're referring to the bushings in the lollipop bracket, BMW p/n 31126783376. We are only offering three brands at this time. Shoot me a PM with your order information and let me take a look to see what I can do for you on this.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Probably tightened up the bushing bolts while the arms were unloaded...

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One post wonder, to top it off.

[Mike WW]

FCP rep

I'm a little unclear on one thing, lets say I buy a crappy part, $10 and it fails. I decide to upgrade to a better $30 part because I don't want to keep replacing it. Will you refund the $10 if I buy the better $30 part from FCP?

[crazy4trains]

FCP rep

I'm a little unclear on one thing, lets say I buy a crappy part, $10 and it fails. I decide to upgrade to a better $30 part because I don't want to keep replacing it. Will you refund the $10 if I buy the better $30 part from FCP?

You will have to buy the new, $30 part. Once you send the old part back you will get a $10 credit toward purchase of the $30 part. At least that is my understanding of how it would work.

[Narlift]

love fcp and their warranty. spent thousands and returned hundreds of dollars of things including old fluids.

[FCPEuro]

FCP rep I'm a little unclear on one thing, lets say I buy a crappy part, $10 and it fails. I decide to upgrade to a better $30 part because I don't want to keep replacing it. Will you refund the $10 if I buy the better $30 part from FCP?

You will have to buy the new, $30 part. Once you send the old part back you will get a $10 credit toward purchase of the $30 part. At least that is my understanding of how it would work.

Yes, this is exactly how it works.

love fcp and their warranty. spent thousands and returned hundreds of dollars of things including old fluids.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the program.

[BimmerBreaker]

FCP Euro got my my aux fan with economy shipping faster than a local major parts store (wont name names, but its a haus full of auto parts in AZ)

[blarf]

I can't speak to warranty replacements... but you guys really have to get your act together with regards to shipping. You guys literally throw a piece of paper in the bottom, toss in the parts, and hope for the best. This cost my previous order a wheel bearing (something else inside rattled around and punched a hole in the box). This current order the box was pretty banged up and everything inside had obviously been rattling around (the packing slip was red from the TRW boxes, one had come apart, and some other plastic bags had been ripped apart. Everything appears to be serviceable, but it's only a matter of time before something else gets lost (or broken).

[FCPEuro]

I can't speak to warranty replacements... but you guys really have to get your act together with regards to shipping. You guys literally throw a piece of paper in the bottom, toss in the parts, and hope for the best. This cost my previous order a wheel bearing (something else inside rattled around and punched a hole in the box). This current order the box was pretty banged up and everything inside had obviously been rattling around (the packing slip was red from the TRW boxes, one had come apart, and some other plastic bags had been ripped apart. Everything appears to be serviceable, but it's only a matter of time before something else gets lost (or broken).

Hey blarf,

I'm sorry to hear about this. It's definitely not acceptable for lack of packing material to be inside the box or for things to shift around in transit from lack of packing material. I can say for sure we know once the box knows the facility it's all in the hand of UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc and they are not always gentle.

If you don't mind, can you send me some pictures of this if you have them to gareth1@fcpeuro.com along with your order numbers. I want to at least review the orders in question and backtrack them to the very beginning.

I can safely say if I were in your shoes I would not be happy either but I'd like to make this right moving forward.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[blarf]

DSC5907.jpg

In that box were:

2x straight control arms (boxed)
2x curved control arms (bagged)
1x cabin air filter set (boxed, bag split)

These things happen, and you guys replaced the missing parts from the previous order with no questions asked. It just seems entirely preventable. And, yeah, I'm well aware of why they're named United Package Smashers.

[FCPEuro]

In that box were:

2x straight control arms (boxed)
2x curved control arms (bagged)
1x cabin air filter set (boxed, bag split)

These things happen, and you guys replaced the missing parts from the previous order with no questions asked. It just seems entirely preventable. And, yeah, I'm well aware of why they're named United Package Smashers.

You're right, there is definitely not enough void fill in that package to support the box when it gets tossed around by the package couriers. I'm sorry this has been a repeat issue for you and I want to figure out a way to make sure the next order doesn't have that problem. I'm happy to see it was a package that shipped from us directly vs being drop-shipped because it is something that we can fix here. 100% avoidable to have a package like that get destroyed by throwing a little more fill in there. If you get a chance PM me the order number.